Sharks Live in the Ocean, Part 2

When we swim in the ocean we share the water with an abundance of other life, some of it larger and toothier than we are. Just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there. And just because they’re there doesn’t mean they care about us, or want anything to do with us.

Members of the South End Rowing Club and Dolphin Club, who share a beach on Aquatic Park, San Francisco, were recently reminded of these truths when a three-foot juvenile salmon shark swam into the cove and spent a few minutes cruising around near our docks. Salmon sharks sport a distinctive white underbelly and are sometimes mistaken for juvenile Great Whites. Though adults can grow to 10 feet long, they’re generally not considered a threat to humans.

The shark is behaving oddly and appears disoriented. According to the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, this shark may be suffering from a carnobacterium infection and resulting blindness. The PSRF has received several other reports recently of sharks beaching themselves elsewhere in Northern California.

Salmon shark (not the one in the video).

I didn’t swim at the South End the morning our confused fish friend visited us. But actually, I wish that I had. Though the idea of a shark cruising around Aquatic Park is startling, the primary emotion I feel watching that video is not fear but sympathy and curiosity. Sympathy for his suffering, and curiosity at seeing an animal that typically avoids human contact, swimming silently, anonymously, indifferently below our stroking arms.